Four countries - Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, which are members of NATO, announced on Tuesday their intention to withdraw from the Ottaw Convention on anti-personnel mines due to the emerging military threat from neighboring Russia.
In their joint statement, ministers from the four countries noted: "The military threat to NATO members, adjacent to Russia and Belarus, has significantly increased." More than 160 countries have signed or joined the Ottawa Convention, but Russia is not among them.
The exit from this convention, signed in 1997, allows Poland and the three Baltic states to again begin stockpiling landmines.
